“GyuOOooo!”
The roar of a Huge Blue Dragon of Purple Lightning can be heard reverberating throughout the training grounds at Castle of Fortitude.
“ “.....!!?” ”
Aside from the Duke of Filsand, all the other vassals, knights, and soldiers lined up in ranks are dumbfounded.
The Duke is somehow managing to hang onto his dignity, but even the knight commander and court magician are shivering to the point where their teeth are audibly clattering. Rather, the fact that no one is running away or sinking to the ground is testament to how high their morale normally is.
In the middle of the feast, the Duke of Filsand said “I’ve heard so much about the power of your wizardry, but it all sounds so fantastical that I can’t really imagine it. If it’s alright with you, will you be willing to let us see that dragon with our own eyes?”
I still had the ESP Medal on me at the time, and confirmed that he wasn’t lying. I understood that he would always have lingering doubts if he doesn’t see it firsthand, so I agreed.
Once the Duke becomes sure of my power, I’m sure he would become even more aggressive in trying to take me in, but he would also be that less likelier to betray me.
And above all, I’d gotten a general grasp of the Duke’s personality through that conversation (supplemented with his inner voice). He believes in power. In order to have a proper conversation with him, I need to first show him power above his own.
“So…… this dragon is physically present and isn’t an illusion? It would do whatever you command it to?”
“Yes, indeed. For example…… Blue Dragon, Lightning Breath!”
“GyuUOOon.”
At my command, the Blue Dragon faces towards the sky and lets loose.
Our eyes are then almost blinded by what looks like a blazing searchlight, while at the same time all our bodies are assaulted by a deep, heavy sound exactly like that of a real lightning strike.
“U-, uwah?!”
“Hiiii.”
A few of the knights’ and soldiers’ knees finally give way, unable to withstand any more.
“If the dragon fans its breath, it can take out several hundreds of soldiers at one time! On top of which, it can fly, can it not? Then even ten thousand soldiers would be no match for it! Invincible! You are invincible, Margils-dono!”
«Incredible. This is far too incredible. Is this truly the power of a human? …… This power defies the very logic of this world…...»
The Duke of Filsand is staring intensely at the dragon with dazzling eyes. I mentally give him props for calmly assessing the dragon’s fighting power instead of being frightened.
Furthermore, along with the excitement and desire in his heart, I feel awe towards me being born.
The ESP Medal can only be used 3 times every day. With the feast and now, that’s already 2 times. I truly hope that he’s gotten a bit more submissive after this.
♥♦♣♠
That night, I find myself invited by the Duke to his personal room.
Though immaculate, his room is decorated by several dangerous-looking weapons. Along with the shelves overflowing with books on military strategy and the bear and wolf stuffed mountings, all of it felt to me like an illustration of the kind of person that he is.
“Apologies that our talk was interrupted halfway in the afternoon, Margils-dono. That dragon did take me quite aback.”
“Don’t worry about it. I am not in a great hurry.”
I shrug my shoulders while the Duke pours expensive-looking wine into my glass. I am currently a lot more relaxed than I was in the afternoon.
Without a doubt, he is the kind of ambitious villain who doesn’t give a thought to stepping on others on his way upwards, but he treats really well those whose value he has acknowledged.
…… He must have used people like that, all the way up to where he is now.
If I hadn’t used the ESP Medal, I might actually have fallen for his act. I actually still have the Medal around my neck, but it’s not activated, because I only have 1 more use for today.
“Speaking of which, Margils-dono. What is it about my daughter that you like?”
“......”
So asks the Duke with an interested expression while pouring wine into his own glass.
This is not a pleasant topic, but it is something that I do need to tidy up.
“Your daughter is very wise and kind. However, the engagement……”
“Yes, I know. It’s merely a cover, right? It seems my family’s internal strife has caused you some trouble.”
Elizabel had said that it was her 2nd stepbrother who was after her life. And also that there was no way her father did not know. I’m sure I remembered that right.
“So you are aware that your son and daughter are fighting with each other, yet you are ignoring it?”
“To think that you would said something so principled!”
His face looks really surprised. Well, I guess he would be, considering his evaluation of me.
“The ethics aside, I don’t see how it benefits you to allow the succession struggle to go on unchecked.”
“So that’s what you meant. Hmm, how should I put it……”
He lightly shrugs his shoulders, then continues speaking in a matter-of-fact manner.
“I believe you also know that my eldest son is captured by the Shulz, right? I recognize that Shulz girl that you brought with you.”
So he really had noticed Dianu. More like, so he also knows that his eldest son is still alive.
“The thing about me, Margils-dono. I’ve actually been thinking of retiring soon. Seeing how Filsand currently is, to increase its power any further would require several decades of work. I’m already a bit too tired to do all that, considering my age.”
Draining the wine in his glass in one gulp, he then lets out a deep sigh.
Though the scale of the topic is on a completely different level, his sigh is the exact same one that I hear at company dinners and alumni reunions when people start talking about “at my age.”
“And when I was thinking about who to have succeed me, it came to me. Among my three children, not a single one of them feels exactly right to me. Even worse, I don’t even know them that well.”
“I see.”
His words sound like the epitome of irresponsibility, but I suppose this is how things are for those in his position in this world. In order to urge him to continue speaking, I throw in interjections like “ahh, yes I know what you mean” where appropriate.
“It was right around that time when my eldest son, Balzard, was taken prisoner by the Shulz. Well, the official story is that he died in battle, though. After that, it was only natural for my second son, Agbeil, to move for the successor position by targeting Elizabel, right? Which is why I decided to just let the three of them do whatever they want.”
“...... In other words, whoever comes out on top after the fighting, you will make your successor?”
“Indeed, that is exactly it! As expected of Margils-dono.”
The Duke claps his thick hands in applause, but it doesn’t particularly make me happy.
“For what it’s worth, I had originally thought Balzard to be the one with the best prospect. If it’s him, as long as he’s not dead, he might very well unite all the Shulz and come back with them in tow. The most unpromising one was Agbeil, but he’s desperately struggling so gard. As for Elizabel, well, she did manage to escape, didn’t she? And now that she’s drawn the honestly too powerful card that is you, she might very well come out on top. But I can’t really make her my successor anymore, though.”
“I see.”
This is coming from me, who has never had kids before, but what a guy.
Normally, I have no right to be involved with their family’s circumstances, but for my own sake I have to ask this.
“...... Elizabel’s mother was Shulz, was she not? About Elizabel and her mother…… don’t you think of them as precious?”
“Hou.”
Contrary to my expectations of having my words dismissed with a snort, he falls silent with an earnest face. After fiddling with the empty glass in his hand for a while, he looks straight at me.
“That was because Sheiru was a really good woman. Almost frightening so. Because she was such a good woman, I made her mine, and lavished all that I could on her. Is that not what it means to treat someone preciously?”
To press any further would only negatively affect our cordial relationship from here on. But I cannot help but to ask.
“And what I’m trying to say is, was that not forced?”
“Was it? I had the power to take Sheira away, so I used it. There’s nothing strange at all about that, is there?”
Without even using the ESP Medal, I can tell that he meant every single word of that.
I see, it is as I had thought.
That day, if I had used [Charm] on Mora. This is who I might have become, a man drunk on his own power.
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